


A Dumb Dog

by specifiedtrash



Category: Dangan Ronpa
Genre: Gen, oowada brothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-06
Updated: 2015-02-06
Packaged: 2018-03-10 18:03:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3298982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/specifiedtrash/pseuds/specifiedtrash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daiya tells Mondo some bad news about Chuck.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Dumb Dog

The words hit him like a million fungoes.

"Chuck is dead."

Mondo could feel the blood drain from his face and tears sting at his eyes. No. No way. Chuck couldn’t be dead. That little dog had been his best friend, his confidant, the only guy he didn’t have to look tough in front of. It couldn’t be true, it just couldn’t. He grit his teeth and glared hard, refusing to let any of those tears leave his eyes, too scared to blink and shake them loose.

"What do you mean, he’s dead?" His voice held strong and he silently thanked it.

"I found him this morning, in his dog bed. I’m sorry, Mondo."

"Shut up, Daiya! He can’t be! Why are ya lyin’ to me?! This isn’t funny!” That time, his voice wavered, and he could hear his lip shaking. “Knock it off, fuckwad!” He roughly shoved his brother’s shoulders, but Daiya didn’t so much as step back from it. Mondo wasn’t weak by any stretch. But compared to Daiya? His fists were rabbit paws. He’d always be the little brother, no matter how big he got.

"I got a box ready-"

"I told ya to shut the fuck up!" He shoved again, as hard as he could, and this time Daiya did step back from it. The slightest of shifts in just one foot. No one but his brother would’ve seen it. Daiya kept looking down at his face. Emotionless and tough to anyone, but with a tinge of empathy so small even Mondo couldn’t see it when he needed it most.

"I thought we could bury him by the tree outside. The one he always liked to stop and sniff."

"Why won’t ya stop talkin’ for a second?!" Mondo couldn’t look back at him. If he did, the toughest guy in the world would see him cry.

"Hey, listen to me. Ya can’t get in a knot over it. He was just a dumb dog.” Mondo handled anger better than sadness, and Daiya knew it. Mondo knew Daiya knew it. He knew his brother just wanted him to get mad, but couldn’t appreciate what he was trying to do.

"Chuck was not a dumb dog!” He shouted, loud enough to hurt his throat and startle the neighbours. “He was a fuckin’ brilliant dog! Don’t even think about sayin’ anythin’ else! Ever! He knew how to get the newspaper, and could do every single trick ever thought of!” Daiya grabbed him by the collar of his gang jacket and looked him hard in the eye. Or, eyelid, as the case was.

"Look at me. I said look at me!" Daiya never yelled at Mondo. The surprise was enough to make him obey, with too much hurt to glare. Eyes wide and startled. Just a child, that wanted so desperately to be a man. Daiya lowered his voice, but kept his stare cold. "Ya gotta grow up real fast, alright? Chuck was a good friend to ya, but he’s gone. So take it like an adult and move the fuck on." He let go of Mondo, but didn’t look away. Mondo quietly looked at the floor. Daiya was never wrong about anything. He was everything Mondo wanted to be.

So he had to grow the fuck up. He swallowed the lump in his throat, sniffed and wiped his face, grateful that his pompadour hid his eyes. Then, he looked back at his brother, collected but not calm. The smear on his eyeliner gave him away.

"Yer right. Just a fuckin’ dog. So we gonna bury him? By that tree he liked?" He tried so hard to keep his expression unfeeling. So hard to keep the tears off his eyes- or worse, his cheeks. He did pretty good, considering how old he was. Daiya sighed and dropped his shoulders. His brother really was growing up fast. Too fast. But at the same time, not fast enough. It was so hard to force him to give up his childhood, but that’s what he had to do, right? That’s what his brother needed. There was no room for a child in the Crazy Diamonds.

"Yeah. Get the shovel." It’s not that Daiya didn’t care about Chuck. That dopey maltese had these stupid little eyes, and the way he stuck out his tongue and sort of smiled… But what he’d miss most about the dog, was the way Chuck had his brother tied around his little paw. Mondo would go from fuming gangster kicking over mailboxes, to brushing and patting and talking to this stupid ball of fur like he was some kind of… Child.

Daiya’s word was law. More than law. Mondo broke laws. Daiya’s word was taboo. Mondo shoved his hands in his pockets, looked down and sniffed again.

"Ya gonna get the box?"

"Already did, Kiddo. I’ll get Chuck, you get the shovel." Mondo nodded and left, keeping his shoulders up and head down. good thing his collar went so high, he could hide his face better than his emotions.

Both Oowadas did as Daiya said, like always, and met again at their shoddy front door. Mondo held a shovel over his shoulder. Always trying so hard to look cool, and, more importantly, tough. But he broke when Daiya came to meet him with a shoebox under his arm. He didn’t have to ask what was in it. Not that Daiya would have let him see, either. The kid didn’t have to look at that. Let him remember Chuck when he was bounding around their living room full of life and little barks.

Mondo stared at the box and his whole face trembled. He tried his best to keep the tears back and his lip still. It was an ugly attempt. Daiya put his free hand on his brother’s free shoulder. Neither of them had to speak, Mondo just kept looking at the box, and Daiya at his little brother.

They walked towards Chuck’s favourite tree. Patches of dead grass marked the base, to remind them why it was Chuck’s favourite. Mondo put the shovel into the grass and roughly stomped on it.

"Hey, let me do that." Daiya set down the box and took over the shovel. Mondo let him do it, and leaned against the tree, one foot up against it and arms crossed. Still trying to look so strong. He had to be strong. If he wasn’t strong, Daiya would see.

For a few moments Daiya turned over dirt, broke tree roots, and unearthed stones. There were better places to dig a hole, but not for Chuck. Daiya dropped the shovel and looked at the hole. That seemed about right. Mondo watched while he gently set the box in and picked the shovel back up.

"Ya want a minute, Mondo?" Mondo didn’t look away from the hole, didn’t even blink. He said nothing. He couldn’t say anything. If he spoke, he’d cry. And he couldn’t cry in front of Daiya.

Daiya patted his arm and swept the dirt back on top. He set the rocks he’d dug out on top of the patch of disturbed dirt, haphazard and careless. Then he did what he had to.

He hugged Mondo. Hugged him tightly and didn’t let him go. He could feel Mondo’s shoulders shake and breath get rough, but knew he was still holding it back.

Good. He had to learn to hold it back. Mondo was always ‘Daiya’s little brother’. The only respect he got was from who he was related to. But that couldn’t last, Daiya couldn’t drag him along forever. He had to earn his place at the top of the Crazy Diamonds, or no one would respect him.

A stupid maltese wouldn’t help build up his reputation. Even if he did get Daiya’s slippers and stand on his back legs for treats. Daiya finally let go of Mondo, and for a split second, Mondo could swear his eyes were just as glassy as his own.

That couldn’t be true, though. Daiya was strong. The strongest person Mondo knew. The strongest person in the world. It must’ve been his own weak tears that blurred his vision and made him imagine it.

After all, Chuck was just a dumb dog.


End file.
